As most of us know, the Active Learning Center (ALC), currently under construction, will house many state-of-the-art classrooms as well as library space for six of the current science and technology libraries. Most of the library collections will be digital to meet students’ and faculty’s needs for 24/7 access to a wide array of research and study materials. However, some important library materials are not yet available electronically, so the Libraries ALC space will also include a small physical collection.

A big task ahead of us is identifying that core collection of physical library materials to include in the ALC, taking into consideration balancing the need for items from the variety of scientific and technical disciplines which the new library will serve. It will be a challenge to identify those 28,000 or so titles that will form the physical collection on opening day, while allowing some room for future growth, too — but we’re confident that we can do it.

Purdue College of Liberal Arts Dean, David A. Reingold, recently featured the instruction and student mentoring collaboration between Flight Archivist Tracy Grimm and Professor Michael Smith in an For the Honor July email. For the Honor is an occasional email from the Dean that highlights exceptional work being done within the College of Liberal Arts. In this case, the exceptional work is that of College of Liberal Arts students and is the result of a collaboration with the Archives and Special Collections. The following is an excerpt from Dean Reingold’s July 20th For the Honor:

Associate Professor of History Michael Smith, who specializes in the history of aviation and space flight, teamed with Tracy Grimm, the Barron Hilton Archivist for Flight and Space Exploration in the Virginia Kelly Karnes Archives and Special Collections Research Center to offer an undergraduate archives research seminar on flight and space exploration last year. The class offered opportunities for several students to practice and publish archival research.

One research project in the class by history major Matthew Meyer resulted in the paper “Happy landings: The aviation life of Purdue University’s Ralph S. Johnson,” which will be published in the fall 2015 issues of Journal of Purdue Undergraduate Research and The Purdue Historian (as “Ralph S. Johnson: A Pilot's Pilot”). Another research project by history major Katie Martin, “The Earhart Brand,” a study of aviation achievement and celebrity culture based on Amelia Earhart, is being prepared for submission to a cultural history journal. Martin presented her work at the Liberal Arts Honors Colloquium and the Undergraduate Research & Poster Symposium, where she placed second in the People’s Choice overall award. She also wrote about her experience in the research seminar in her essay “Course Reflection: The Technology and Culture of Flight,” which appears in Memoirs & Memories, the Purdue Archives blog.

Max Campbell, a history master’s student and graduate assistant in the Barron Hilton Flight and Space Exploration Archives, was also mentored by Smith and Grimm. This summer, Campbell is interning at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum, where he is working with the Apollo curator to help prepare “Destination Moon,” an upcoming exhibit.

One of the other results of the course, which will be offered again in fall 2015, was the initiation of a student-run online magazine titled “Flight Paths: Purdue University’s Aerospace Pioneers.” The magazine will allow students to explore the extensive materials in the archive, deepen experiential learning, and highlight student research.

Congratulations to Dr. Smith, Hilton Archivist Tracy Grimm, Matthew Meyer, Katie Martin, and Max Campbell for their work in documenting aerospace history, in which Purdue University has played an important role.

The HIST395 class with Tracy Grimm and Michael Smith on their 2014 fall field trip to the Purdue Airport.

On July 23, LCSSAC hosted a tour of the Hicks Undergraduate Library. Tomalee Doan led the tour, which highlighted both phases of the recent renovation, other updates in the space, the IMPACT classrooms and services available in the library. Several staff members from all areas of the Libraries enjoyed the hour-long tour.

Tours of library spaces are great staff development opportunities that help participants gain a better sense of the services and the work of other areas throughout the Libraries departments. If you have any suggestions for other tours or Lunch & Learn opportunities, please contact any member of LCSSAC or email: lcssac@purdue.edu. To learn more about LCSSAC visit the Libraries intranet.

Hicks Fun Fact: Funds for the new water fountains, or hydration stations were donated by the Purdue Student Government.

Jody Zink
Library Assistant
Hicks Undergraduate Library

After 38 years of service with Purdue University, Jody Zink, library assistant in the Hicks Undergraduate Library, retired on July 31.

Jody began her Purdue career right after her high school graduation working in the Purdue Residence Hall Retail Operations. She also worked in the ITaP Learning Spaces Operations and the Registrar’s office.

In her retirement Jody hopes to continue traveling with her husband to California to visit their daughter and to share her love for the color of orange with her family and friends.

Please send your notes of congratulations to Jody’s email address at jbzink@purdue.edu.

Kendall Roark
Research Data Specialist
Data Specialists/Research Data

Thanks to all who have offered such a warm welcome to Purdue (and back to the U.S.)!

I have just been wrapping up a two year CLIR/DLF postdoctoral fellowship in data curation with the Digital Initiatives Unit and the J. W. Scott Health Sciences Library at University of Alberta in Edmonton, AB. At UAL, I conducted applied research around health researcher and policy-maker perspectives on data sharing and collaborated with librarians, archivists and researchers on data management education and health related data curation projects. I have to say that while I will miss many of my colleagues and friends in Alberta, I am so looking forward to a shorter and slightly warmer Indiana winter. I bet you don’t hear that very often!

Prior to my postdoc in Edmonton, I received a PhD in Anthropology from Temple University (2012) with a research focus on LGBTQ organizing around health disparities, marriage equality and other social justice issues. I have taught courses in anthropology, sociology and gender studies at Temple and at Drexel Universities in Philadelphia, PA and Pima County Community College in Tucson, AZ.

In my new role as a Research Data Specialist, I will collaborate with other library faculty, specialists and researchers on campus to better understand researcher workflows, data and information needs and to co-design and implement data curation and management strategies, tools and systems. My current research focuses on participatory design and the ethical, environmental, economic, social and political aspects of data sharing. In a broader sense I am interested in critical data studies and the history of science, technology and medicine (including the role of cultural heritage institutions).

I am looking forward to getting to know more of you in the upcoming months! My office is currently in STEW343. I can be reached at roark6@purdue.edu or 765-494-2637.

Lu Ann Gooden’s name was randomly drawn from all those who were SMILED upon in July. She received a $25 Von’s Book Shop gift certificate.

All faculty, administration and staff are invited to send a note of appreciation for a kindness or thoughtfulness given, assistance provided to or by a Libraries, Press or Copyright Office colleague.

To learn more about how to participate in our SMILE Program, please visit and bookmark this page on the Libraries intranet: http://intranet.lib.purdue.edu/display/HR/SMILE+Program/

LCSSAC cordially invites all Libraries’ faculty, staff and retirees, along with their families, to the annual fall picnic.

September 29, 5-8 p.m.
Happy Hollow Park, Shelter #1
RSVP: https://purdue.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_bdVXqjTX4JaFJGZ

LCSSAC and Dean Mullins will provide paper goods, napkins and plastic ware, hamburgers, hot dogs and buns, bottled water and condiments.

Please bring a covered dish and a “white elephant” gift. Don't go out and buy anything, bring something you already have. Make sure it is usable and not broken, and bring it in a brown paper bag or something you can't see through. Many interesting gifts have been given and received over the years.

We hope to have a big group this year for good food, lawn games, crossword puzzle, fellowship and the ever popular “white elephant” challenge! If you have never been before, give it a try this year.